With the death of Nero by his own shaky hand, the ill-sorted, ill-starred Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an ignominious end, and Rome was up for the taking. This was 9 June, AD 68. The following year, commonly known as the 'Year of the Four Emperors', was probably one of Rome's worst.

Nero's death threw up a critical question for the Empire. How could a new man occupy the vacant throne in Rome and establish a new dynasty? This situation had never arisen before, since in all previous successions the new emperor had some relation to his predecessor, but the psychotic and paranoid Nero had done away with any eligible relatives. And how might a new emperor secure his legal position and authority with regards to the Senate and to the army, as well as to those who had a vested interest in the system, the Praetorian Guard? The result was that ambitious and unscrupulous generals of the empire fell into a bloody power struggle to decide who had the right to wear the imperial purple.

Tacitus, in his acid way, remarks that 'one of the secrets of ruling had been revealed: an emperor could be created outside Rome'. This was because imperial authority was ultimately based on control of the military. Thus, to retain power a player in the game of thrones had to gain an unshakable control over the legions, which were dotted along the fringes of the empire. Of course, this in turn meant that the soldiers themselves could impose their own choice. Indeed, it turned out that even if an emperor gained recognition in Rome, this counted for nothing in the face of opposition from the armies out in the frontier provinces. It was to take a tumultuous year of civil war and the death of three imperial candidates before a fourth candidate could come out on top, remain there, and establish for himself a new dynasty. Nic Fields narrates the twists and turns and the military events of this short but bloody period of Roman history.

Fields scholarship is solid.

Roman Times Blogspot - Mary Harrsch

An enjoyable read.

Ancient Warfare

Overall, this is a good study of a disastrous year in Roman history.

www.historyofwar.org

The author has a very readable style and he has chosen a period in Roman history that provides many twists and turns as Rome emerged from the period of rule by Nero. The result is a fascinating account of a fascinating slice of Roman history.

Firetrench

Nic Fields, a former Royal Marine, navigates us through this year of tumult, firstly introducing us to Nero, and then guiding step by step through the subsequent events with an easy and engaging writing style. We appear to meet more people than the cast of Game of Thrones (with about the same mortality rate!) but with the added bonus of this being history, not fiction.
This book is history for mortals, with a hugely entertaining narrative which keeps the reader interested and wanting to know 'what happened next?'.
Recommended.

Miniature Wargames Magazine

About Dr Nic Fields

Dr Nic Fields started his career as a biochemist before joining the Royal Marines. Having left the military, he went back to university and completed a BA and PhD in Ancient History at the University of Newcastle. He was Assistant Director at the British School at Athens, then a lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh.

Now a freelance author and researcher based in south-west France and writing mainly for Osprey, his most relevant previous work is The Roman Army of the Punic Wars (2007). One previous work for us, Warlords of Rome, is in production.